IT IS FINISHED (Christ's Sacrifice On The Cross)

                                                                It Is Finished 

Then the officers came to the chief priests and Pharisees, who said to them, “Why have you not brought Him?”
The officers answered, “No man ever spoke like this Man!”(in referring to Jesus....who they were ordered to bring-- John 7:45-46 NT)

750 years before the birth of Jesus the Christ Isaiah the prophet wrote:
who has believed our report?
And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed? He is despised and rejected by men,
A Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief.
And we hid, as it were, our faces from Him;
He was despised, and we did not esteem Him.
Surely He has borne our griefs
And carried our sorrows;
Yet we esteemed Him stricken,
Smitten by God, and afflicted.
5 But He was wounded for our transgressions,
He was bruised for our iniquities;
The chastisement for our peace was upon Him,
And by His stripes we are healed. (Is. 53:3-5)
                                 

   

  

Again the high priest asked Him, saying to Him, “Are You the Christ, the Son of the Blessed?”
Jesus said, “I am. And you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Power, and coming with the clouds of heaven.”
Then the high priest tore his clothes and said, “What further need do we have of witnesses? You have heard the blasphemy! What do you think?”
And they all condemned Him to be deserving of death. (Mark 14:62-63)
                                              

There were also two others, criminals, led with Him to be put to death. And when they had come to the place called Calvary, there they crucified Him, and the criminals, one on the right hand and the other on the left. Then Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they do.” (Mark 14:32-34)

Jesus, knowing that all things were now accomplished, that the Scripture might be fulfilled, said, “I thirst!” Now a vessel full of sour wine was sitting there; and they filled a sponge with sour wine, put it on hyssop, and put it to His mouth. So when Jesus had received the sour wine, He said, “It is finished!” And bowing His head, He gave up His spirit. (John 19:28-30)
                                           

                               
Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that you should follow His steps:
“Who committed no sin,
Nor was deceit found in His mouth”;
who, when He was reviled, did not revile in return; when He suffered, He did not threaten, but committed Himself to Him who judges righteously; who Himself bore our sins in His own body on the tree, that we, having died to sins, might live for righteousness—by whose stripes you were healed. (1 Peter 2:21-24)

Be sober(self-controlled), be vigilant (alert);  because your adversary (enemy)  the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.  Resist him, steadfast in the faith, knowing that the same sufferings are experienced by your brotherhood in the world.  But may the God of all grace, who called us to His eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after you have suffered a while, perfect, establish, strengthen, and settle you. (restore you)  To Him be the glory and the dominion forever and ever. Amen. (1 Peter 5:8-11)

                                           

 Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.  Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.  For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” (Matthew 11:28-30) 

The Second Coming Of The Lord and Savior Jesus Christ

                                   

                                

30 Then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. 

7 Behold, He is coming with clouds, and every eye will see Him, even they who pierced Him. And all the tribes of the earth will mourn because of Him. Even so, Amen. .

31 And He will send His angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they will gather together His elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.

                                               

 16 For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. 17 Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. 

But concerning the times and the seasons, brethren, you have no need that I should write to you. 2 For you yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so comes as a thief in the night. 3 For when they say, “Peace and safety!” then sudden destruction comes upon them, as labor pains upon a pregnant woman. And they shall not escape. 

                                             

 10 For the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, in which the heavens will pass away with a great noise, and the elements will melt with fervent heat; both the earth and the works that are in it will be burned up.

when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with His mighty angels, 8 in flaming fire taking vengeance on those who do not know God, and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9 These shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His power, 

46 And these will go away into everlasting punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”

                                                  

4 But you, brethren, are not in darkness, so that this Day (the Day of the Lord) should overtake you as a thief. 5 You are all sons of light and sons of the day. We are not of the night nor of darkness. 6 Therefore let us not sleep, as others do, but let us watch and be sober.(self-controlled) 

And thus we shall always be with the Lord. 18 Therefore comfort one another with these words.

(Matt. 24:30;Rev. 1:7;Matt 24:31;1 Thess 4:16-17; 1 Thess 5:1-3; 2 Peter 3:10; 2 Thess 1:7-9;   Matt. 25:46; 1 Thess 5:4-5;  1 Thess 4:17b-18)

No One Here Gets Out Alive

                                                       

Jim Morrision, in case you didn't know,  since it was over 50 years ago, was the lead vocalist for the  rock group the Doors (who coined this phrase) and himself lead an overindulgent and consuming life of drugs and alcohol and then died at the age of 27 years on July 3 1971.  Two others of that 60's and 70's generation; were Jimi Hendrix (Sept. 18, 1970) and Janis Joplin (Oct 4, 1970) ) who also succumbed to the rigors of that debauched generation which culminated in their untimely end at the age of 27 years as well. It was a time where the consumption of drugs, and the practice of free unbridled sex mixed in with  music of that generation stood for freedom.  And the hippie mantra that typified the often repeated slogan "if it feels good do it" was sloganized as the clarion call  of this new young generation.  

                                         

It was as if the 1920's had returned to a new generation that gave up all restraint and followed the desires of their flesh to a new extreme. Which the late 60's and 70's solidified and took even further those values which the youth of the hippie generation practiced. The deaths of three of "Rocks" most prominent icons didn't seem to slow things down. They became  martyr's  to that time. The world of the young found out early that death was a reality even among those they idolized. Looking at death as an acceptable alternative singing, "Hope I die before I get Old."The music became the siren song that lured the youth of that time and even today is still looked upon as revolutionary. And now being promoted on LP's which have made a come back, the youth of today buying them because they say the LP's have a better sound.                    

Scripture, the Bible of the Christian faith explains that death in this world was not the original plan that God had for his creation.  But that the first created humans disobeyed God and listened to a lie. That they could be like God. They could do it their way with no servitude to the God that created them. They took the bait. Because they would rather obey the words of the tempting serpent in the garden of eden,  the devil of old, satan himself who wants to be worshipped and obeyed. Therefore we're told that God subjected all of creation to futility, to vanity, to uselessness and failure.That is when death came into the world. And the first created humans began to die.                                                                          

Yet Even though God cursed creation that day, He also promised One who would bruise the head of satan (Gen.3:15) when the fullness of time would come. And God would provide a child born, conceived of a virgin. A Son given, who would be called  wonderful, counselor, Mighty God, everlasting father and prince of peace. (NOTE: Christ is not the Father; the Son and Spirit may be considered with the first Person as Father, in creation and regeneration, they being jointly concerned therein, but not in the Trinity:   Christ is a Father with respect to chosen men, who were given him as his children and offspring in covenant; who are adopted into that family that is named of him, and who are regenerated by his Spirit and grace: and to these he is an "everlasting Father" God's elect are children previous to the Spirit's work upon them, and even to the incarnation and death of Christ; adoption is an act of the will of God in covenant from eternity: and Christ is a Father to these unto everlasting; (John Gill commentary Isaiah 9:6) The New Testament tells us Jesus is the One spoken of in the Old Testament. Is. 7:14; 9:6; Micah 5:2; Ps. 22; Numbers 21:4-19; Ps. 16:9-11; Gen. 3:15.                

Secular Society says that there are two things we can not get around not having to do. Death and taxes. Yet there are some who are sneaky and  knowledgeable enough to get away with avoiding paying their fair share of taxes. Yet no one has that ability to avoid death. Our bodies age, break down, deteriorate, and eventually just wear out. We all have an expiration date. It's the nature of our natural life in this world.                          

 As Hebrews 9:27 tells us, "it is appointed unto all once for all people to die and then the judgement."   Not a popular notion in our society today. Judgement is taboo. Some fitness centers have "No judgement zones."  Not with the God of Holy Scripture. Every single human being ever born will stand before the judgement seat of Christ. That's right Jesus Christ will do the judging. As John 5:22-23 tells us " For the Father judges no one, but has committed all judgment to the Son,  that all should honor the Son just as they honor the Father. He who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent Him."  As Jesus the Christ Himself proclaimed, "I am the Way, the Truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except by me. (John 14:6)                                                                        

The Apostles understood this explicitly and did not mince words to who Jesus was and what His purpose was and where he stood in the salvation and redemption of those He came to rescue from the dominion of darkness that infects the whole of all humanity.    Peter explains there is no other name given among men by which anyone can be saved. Saved from what, you might ask. Saved from an eternity of separation from The God who created all things. And saved to eternal life.  Literally saved from ourselves.      

The Apostle John tells us in his first epistle chapter 5:12-13  Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life." And John the baptist made this statement about Jesus when he said, " He who has received His testimony has certified that God is true.  For He whom God has sent speaks the words of God, for God does not give the Spirit by measure.  The Father loves the Son, and has given all things into His hand.  He who believes in the Son has everlasting life; and he who does not believe the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him.:(John 3:33-36)                                                                                                                             

                                                          

What is the wrath of God? It is the absence of God and the glory of His power. He gives us over to our own wicked hearts. Jesus explains that this eternity is one of weeping and gnashing of teeth. I believe they're  weeping  because they knew or heard about God and refused to acknowledge and honor Him. Those who reject God's Son do so because they love darkness rather than light because their deeds are evil.  They embrace their sin and revel in it. It is their lifestyle and they refuse to give it up.             

As Paul the Apostle explains in Eph 4:17-19 ' you must no longer live as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their thinking.  They are darkened in their understanding and separated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them due to the hardening of their hearts.  Having lost all sensitivity, they have given themselves over to sensuality so as to indulge in every kind of impurity, with a continual lust for more."                                                                                                                                        

From the very beginning, even before the first human beings transgressed God's command and brought the human race after them  into bondgage to sin, God had a plan.  A plan to save those who He would call from darkness to light and from death to life. A plan that would involve the very Word that was with God in the beginning and was God. His One and Only Son, existing with the Father for all eternity, would take on a body of flesh and blood and bones. Would be the final perfect sacrifice that epitomizes in human form all those animal sacrifices that God commanded of  Israel in the Old Testament accounts. They were all types of  the actual sacrifice that would occur when the fullness of time had come.                                                                                                                                          

As the author of Hebrews tells us "Since the children have flesh and blood, he too shared in their humanity so that by his death he might break the power of him who holds the power of death—that is, the devil— and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death." Heb. 2:14-15) Death is never not a reality in this world we inhabit today. It is with us where ever we go."The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law."  Sin is the cause of death.And the law is the source of sin. Sin is what makes death painful and fearful for humans, and the law is what reveals and condemns sin. Without sin, death would have no power or harm over humans. Without the law, there would be no sin or transgression.                                                      

As Paul an Apostle of Christ Jesus explains in his epistle of Romans Chapter seven."  What shall we say, then? Is the law sinful? Certainly not! Nevertheless, I would not have known what sin was had it not been for the law. For I would not have known what coveting really was if the law had not said, “You shall not covet.” But sin, seizing the opportunity afforded by the commandment, produced in me every kind of coveting. For apart from the law, sin was dead.  Once I was alive apart from the law; but when the commandment came, sin sprang to life and I died.  I found that the very commandment that was intended to bring life actually brought death.  For sin, seizing the opportunity afforded by the commandment, deceived me, and through the commandment put me to death.  So then, the law is holy, and the commandment is holy, righteous and good.  But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

                                           

                                                            

You have probably heard and maybe even have it memorized the verse. John 3:16. A very popular starting point with evangelicals today. But most if not all never quote John 3:18.  ““He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God." This simpy put tells us without believing in Christ Jesus people are already condemned and separated from the only true God of all creation. The One who has given us life, breath and all things.  We are not the products of random chance. The prophet Isaiah made that clear when he wrote " For thus says the Lord, Who created the heavens, Who is God, Who formed the earth and made it, Who has established it , Who did not create it in vain,(to be empty)   Who formed it to be inhabited: “I am the Lord, and there is no other. (45:18 of the prophets book)                                                                    

I believe this world we inhabit is very special. Very unique.  And so is each one of us. God did it this way to His glory. But one of His own creations rebelled, desired to be worshipped as god, and brought about the condition of mankind we are a part of today. For the first humans believed that lie, you will be like God, and thus sin and death came into this world. For as Scripture says, "the wages of sin is death."          

God the Father sent Jesus into this world that we might have life and have it more abundantly. A life here now. And everlasting life in a new heavens and new earth where righteousness dwells. Without that imputed righteousness of Jesus, (2 Cor. 5:21) a gift of God by grace through faith, and not of ourselves, (Eph 2:8-10) but bestowed upon us by the creator God (Titus 3:5) there is only "a certain fearful expectation of judgment, and fiery indignation which will devour the adversaries." (Heb. 10:27)   "For it is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God."  (Heb. 10:31)              

Jesus proved He was the Holy One Of God to the people by His signs and wonders, His healing of the sick (Matt. 4:23; 8:16-127; 9:35; Luke 5:17; 6:9; 9;11; Matt 9:29; 15:30)  and his raising of the dead,(Luke 7:7-17; Mark 5:41; Matt. 8:14-16; Luke 4:38-41; ) and His miracles.                                                                                                              Finally,  the Apostle Paul, once a chief persecutor of the Way (the church-believers in Jesus Christ as the prophesized Messiah) summed things up in 1 Cor. 15:3-8  where he wrote to the church " 

" For I delivered to you first of all that which I also received: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures,  and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures,  and that He was seen by Cephas, then by the twelve. After that He was seen by over five hundred brethren at once, of whom the greater part remain to the present, but some have fallen asleep.  After that He was seen by James, then by all the apostles.  Then last of all He was seen by me also, as by one born out of due time." 

There is One Way, One Truth and One Life, the only name by which we can be saved from the wrath of God that is coming.  If you confess with your mouth Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead you will be saved. And have the assurance of a citizenship in heaven, a new life in Christ Jesus, and will wait with anticipation the promise of the Blessed Hope and glorious appearing of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ who has promised "I will never leave you nor forsake you." He is the great shepherd who saves His people from their sins and unto eternal life.

            The Lord is my shepherd;

I shall not want.
2 He makes me to lie down in green pastures;
He leads me beside the still waters.
3 He restores my soul;
He leads me in the paths of righteousness
For His name’s sake.

4 Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
I will fear no evil;
For You are with me;
Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me.

5 You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies;
You anoint my head with oil;
My cup runs over.
6 Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me
All the days of my life;
And I will dwell in the house of the Lord
Forever. (Ps. 23)

    

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